


September 2007 or How They Met

by JeanjacketCarf



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Attempts at accurate 2007 technology, Caitlin and Ronnie as super young post-grads, Canon Compliant, College, F/M, First Meetings, OCs as necessary - Freeform, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Ronnie is the Ultimate Dad Friend, Underage Drinking, but not an au, i think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-13 14:36:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13572621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JeanjacketCarf/pseuds/JeanjacketCarf
Summary: “Oh, I wouldn’t go there if I were you. That’s asking for trouble, buddy.”“Why’s that?”“Dude, that’s Caitlin Snow!” He acted like that explained everything. When Ronnie didn’t react, he rolled his eyes. “You’ve never heard of her?”“No, why would I?”It's September. Ronnie is 22. Caitlin is 19.  They meet at a party. It's all perfectly ordinary.





	September 2007 or How They Met

September 2007

“Hey, who’s that?” Ronnie asked nudging the guy next to him, Greg, a fellow engineering major and thus part of the tribe.

“Who?”

“Her.” Ronnie tried to point without being too obvious at the pretty brunette downing jello shots all by herself.

Twenty-two and halfway through his master's degree, Ronnie Raymond really shouldn’t have been at the party. He was getting maybe four hours of sleep a night and practically living off coffee and Redbull. He had papers to grade and a huge project to work on but one of the undergrads in one of the classes he was a TA for invited him and there he was. Ronnie had a bad habit of adopting every struggling engineering major he came across. One of his professors had made a joke that he was the big brother of the whole department and everyone laughed. Ronnie didn’t know it was that widely known and he couldn’t really convince himself that being nice was a bad thing. 

He made appearances, he put in the time. He rubbed elbows and helped kids study, gave criticism on projects and papers. It was fun. Ronnie wanted to build things, things that would change the world, more than anything in the world but if he had to choose a second occupation he would want to be a teacher. He liked helping and tended to get protective of just about everyone, even people he’d just met. 

At the party, though, he was trying to relax for the first time in a month. If to do that he had to avoid scolding all the underage kids drinking around him, he would. They were technically adults after all. They did need him to be their dad. 

He stood bobbing to the music up against the fence in someone’s backyard, holding a bottle of light beer. His companion laughed.

“Oh, I wouldn’t go there if I were you. That’s asking for trouble, buddy.”

“Why’s that?”

“Dude, that’s Caitlin Snow!” He acted like that explained everything. When Ronnie didn’t react, he rolled his eyes. “You’ve never heard of her?”

“No, why would I?”

“Cuz she’s like the biggest bitch on campus. She’s at the med school. Some sort of prodigy but a total ice queen. All she ever does is wreck curves and men’s hearts.”  
“I never figured you for a poet,” Ronnie laughed, even though he was a little annoyed. Maybe he was old fashioned but he didn’t like that type of language. So she was smart and didn’t give guys like Greg the time of day, that didn’t mean she deserved for people to talk about her behind her back.

He watched her from across the yard. She didn’t sway, not even an inch, to the music as if she couldn’t hear it. As if the rest of the rest of the party didn’t exist. She didn’t look like a bitch, she looked lonely. “I’m going to go talk to her.”

“Your funeral, dude,” Greg muttered.

Ronnie ignored him. He edged through the crowd, Christmas lights twinkling from where they stretched over their heads, the music pounding around them. The table she was standing beside was laden with hard liquor and a few chasers as well a large tray of little jello shots.

The girl, Caitlin Snow, was steadily popping the little plastic cups inside out and swallowing the little mouthfuls of gelatin whole. While he was watching, she must’ve had at least six.

“I heard those were god awful,” Ronnie gestured to the jello shots with his beer.

She looked up at him and squinted, pursing her mouth.

“ ‘s fine,” she slurred. Well, so much for a meaningful conversation. She was clearly wasted and the party had only started half an hour before.

He looked around. Weren’t people supposed to have friends who kept them from getting sloppy drunk at strangers’ houses?

“Are you here alone? Where are your friends?”

Caitlin shrugged.

“I don’t have any friends.” It was that kind of matter of fact statement only the profoundly drunk could manage. Still…

“I’m sure you have friends.”

“No, I really don’t.” She met his eyes for the first time. She had very pretty brown eyes even when she was struggling to keep them open. Underneath that though there was a fierceness that scared him a little. Her voice was hard, like ice.

“Okay, okay! I believe you.” He backed up, holding his hands up in surrender. “I guess I just meant, you should.”  
Caitlin rolled her eyes and turned back to the drinks table. This time she grabbed a handle of vodka and proceeded to pour herself a shot in a little plastic cup.

“Why? You don’t know me. How would you know if I should have friends?”

Ronnie shrugged and looked away, embarrassed. 

“I don’t know. I guess, I just think everyone should have friends.” He was muttering and he didn’t even know if she heard him over the music. She glanced at him as she took the shot, head thrown back and long neck stretched out. He tried not to stare.

She went to put her hand down on the table and stumbled when it teetered on the uneven grass. He grabbed her by the elbow and the weight on her collapsed into him. Her hot breath tickled his throat.

“Hey, um,” he swallowed drily. “Do you want to get out of here?”

She pushed away from him but to do that she had to place her hands on his chest. Ronnie could feel his face flush.

“Are you trying to pick me up, stranger boy?”

Ronnie colored an even brighter red if that was possible.

“No! I, uh, I was wondering really if you wanted a ride home? You’re all alone and you don’t seem to be having too much fun. And, you know, I was going to go anyway so I could drive you too. If you want, of course.” He didn’t think she would say yes. Who would? But he didn’t feel right about leaving her there either.

She watched for a long moment and then cracked up laughing.

“Sure, why not, stranger boy? I came to get drunk and I’m drunk. Mission accomplished!” It was the first time he’d gotten a smile out of her and he liked the feeling even if it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Okay, great! Then, all aboard the Raymond Express, I guess.” Then as an afterthought. “I’m Ronnie Raymond by the way.”

He hesitated a moment before turning and stepping away from the table, thinking she would follow him. She clamped her hands on his shoulders, following him like they were forming a conga line. 

“Caitlin Snow,” she whispered in his ear. He didn’t bother to mention he already knew.  
Ronnie waved to the kid who invited him as they walked past. The kid, in turn, cast an appreciative look up Caitlin’s figure and sent Ronnie a nasty wink. Jesus Christ, he should stop hanging out with frat bros.

They stepped through the gate of the fenced yard and closed it behind them. A roar came up over the crowd from the beer pong table. Ronnie scanned the line of cars parked on the side street for his own.

“Wait, hold on,” Caitlin grumbled behind him. He came to a stop. She let go of his shoulders and stumbled back. Ronnie automatically reached out to steady the drunk girl. His hands found her slim hips this time. He didn’t have time to appreciate it though because she turned green and doubled over to puke in the bushes with loud, heaving lurches.

Ronnie grimaced, dropping to his knees to pull her hair back.

“Okay, it’s okay.” He rubbed small, comforting circles on her back. It wasn’t the first time he’d comforted a total stranger as they threw up. Probably that said something bad about his life.

His heart squeezed with sympathy at the look of utter misery on her face. A few fat tears ran down her face, blurring her mascara. When she emptied her stomach he helped her sit on the clean grass and held up a finger.

“Stay here, okay?” I’ll be right back.” He scrambled to his feet and hustled back to the party. Greg gave him a puzzled look but he ignored it. He went into the house through the back door and grabbed a bottle of water and a roll of paper towels from the kitchen.

He handed both of them off to her wordlessly. She made use of the paper towels to clean her hands and face before twisting open the water. She didn’t bother with washing out her mouth just took a long, deep drink of the cool water.

“Thanks,” she muttered, her voice hoarse.

“No problem.” He sat down awkwardly beside her in the grass.

“Is it okay if we just sit here for a bit?”

“Sure, whatever you want.”

He was surprised when she leaned into him and placed her head on his shoulder. He slung out his arm to hold her there. They sat in silence for a while listening to the sounds of the party behind them. Ronnie looked up at the dark sky above them, the stars blotted out by the lights around them. Sometimes he wished he could fly.

Caitlin swallowed in that kind of nervous way. He could feel it against his t-shirt.

“My dad died,” she said. “Today’s the day he died.”

“Oh.” He didn’t know what to say.

“Ten years ago. It’s been ten years since he died. I’m still not over it. I don’t think I ever will be.”

He rubbed a hand up her arm. His heart thudded. It was a familiar story.

“I don’t think you have to be over it. It’s okay to still be upset.”

She chuckled darkly.

“Yeah, tell that to my mother.”

“It’s not your fault if other people don’t understand.” He probably shouldn’t have continued but he couldn’t help answering candor with candor. “My mom died when I was little. I hardly remember her and I have a stepmom now. She’s the one who raised me and I love her but that doesn’t make me miss my mom any less. I still wish I had been able to know her.”

Caitlin’s hand found the spot over his heart and patted it gently.

“I guess everybody lost somebody, right?”

“That’s a depressing thought, even if it is true.” Ronnie let his hand linger on top of her’s for a second before he pushed himself to his feet with a groan. “So do you want a ride home or what?”

She nodded and let him pull her to her feet. They eventually found his car, a shitty coupe he’d bought third hand. Duct tape held on the side mirrors and he had covered one of the back windows with plastic after it had been broken in. They didn’t steal anything because he didn’t own shit but still a pain in the neck.

He drove her home in silence but when he stopped in front of her apartment she shoved something into his chest. He had to angle it toward a street light just to figure out what it was. She was handing him her Blackberry.

“What do you want me to do with this?”

She turned to give him a knowing look, lifting an eyebrow.

“What do you think?”

“You want my number?” He couldn’t help the surprise that snuck into his voice. Had he been flirting? Had she been flirting? A blush spread across his face. Damn, she was making him blush a lot.

“Yeah, Ronnie Raymond, I want your number. You know, if you want. I know I have a reputation.”

“I don’t care about that.” He said it faster than he meant to.

She smiled like she thought he was funny.

“Okay, so give me your number and I’ll call you sometime.”

He stumbled around looking for the contacts tab with that finicky roller ball. The Blackberry was very different from his flip phone. She laughed at him, out loud this time.

“Having trouble there, big guy?”

“No, I got it. There!” He handed it back to her proudly.

“Great!” She smiled brightly and leaned over to peck him on the cheek. Before he could respond she was out of the car and making her way up to the front door of her apartment building. He let his hand reach up to touch the spot where she’d kissed him. He could still feel it, the linger of her lipstick cold on his hot skin.

He honestly didn’t expect to ever see her again. He definitely didn’t expect her to call him the next day. He didn’t expect her to see her almost every day for the next seven years. Except that’s what happened.


End file.
